Our Phantom Thief
by Mina37
Summary: In which Kaito isn't hiding his night job as well as he thinks he is.
1. Chapter 1

**I have no idea where this came from, but I thought it was a funny idea, so I'm sharing it with you guys. I'm not really sure, but I might be willing to make this a collection of one-shots. I'm not promising anything, but if you have some scene in mind that would fit in, do tell me! I'll try to write it!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Detective Conan or Magic Kaito**

Hakuba thought it was quite amusing.

He had come to the classroom early that morning, just to watch the show. Last night, there had been a Kaitou KID heist. While it wasn't all that unusual to hear gunshots during one (It was always worrying, but not really unusual), it was unusual to see KID, flying on his hang-glider, flinch, place a hand over his suit where said suit was turning red. In other words, it was pretty unusual to see KID get shot. Investigation had not led them to the trail of the sniper, like it usually didn't.

The reason he had come early, though…

"Hakuba-kun", he turned as Momoi Keiko walked over to him, looking worried. "Do you think Kaito-kun's okay?"

It was amazing how quickly everyone fell silent (they had been pretty quiet to begin with, to be honest…) and turned to look at him. The gazes were demanding his opinion, because he was one of the few ones who had seen where exactly KID got shot at.

But why would Keiko ask about Kaito, yet clearly mean KID?

Simple. Kuroba Kaito wasn't as good at hiding his secret identity as Kaitou KID as he thought he was.

"The bullet probably went through", Hakuba admitted, thinking back to what he had seen the previous night. "I don't think it actually hit him, rather it scratched his side. Badly? Yes. But it's still just a scratch. He's been through worse and come to school the next day."

Some of his classmates relaxed a little at that. His opinion was always appreciated, especially when it came to their local prankster/magician/phantom thief. Yet, that didn't mean they were relieved. No, his opinion was appreciated, but it didn't mean he was _right_. He could have been wrong, and the bullet could have hit more badly, and it might be so bad he wasn't coming to school. If he didn't, then they all knew to worry, because Kaito came to school with injuries that, Hakuba dared to say, even Kudo Shinichi wouldn't go to school with.

(That was saying something, because Hakuba was fairly certain he had heard, once, that Kudo Shinichi had gone to school and not told anyone he had a concussion and possibly a broken rib after he cornered a culprit first thing in the morning. That, of course, had gotten one Mouri Ran more than just a little mad at him.)

The clock ticked too slowly. His classmates were starting to twitch, worried for their classmate. The wait after a KID heist was always too long, time went on too slowly. Kaito was _their_ prankster/magician/phantom thief, and the wait to see him after his heists was always too long, because _something could have happened and we wouldn't know_. Hakuba, in a way, understood, yet didn't.

Nakamori Aoko, Kaito's childhood friend, had promised him it was just because Hakuba trusted Kaito and was the only one to actually know that Kaito could take care of himself at times like that. Hakuba wasn't sure whether to feel insulted for apparently trusting Kaito or not.

All of a sudden, the door was slammed open. Everyone turned to it, only to see one of their classmates (he was the gate guard, AKA the one who, after a KID heist, stood by the gates until he saw Kaito and then made a dash for the classroom.). The boy panted there for a second before looking up. "Kuroba's coming, he seems normal and is with Nakamori-san! Everyone act normal!"

That was the cue for everyone to relax and start talking about whatever they could think of at that instant. As chatter filled the classroom, Hakuba smiled. Even then, none of them was actually relaxed. None of them was really acting normal. Not yet.

After a moment, the classroom door opened. Aoko and Kaito walked in, Aoko with a somewhat tired look, Kaito with a bored look. The boy moved just fine and didn't seem to be hiding any severe injuries.

As Kaito walked over to his desk and then started to harass his classmates with his pranks, the students' postures relaxed, they finally began to act what was seen as normal, at least to Kaito. Hakuba chuckled a little.

Kaito would never know just what all they'd do for him. Hopefully, at least.

Kaito stopped mid-prank, staring at him in horror. Then, he started screaming bloody murder. "Hakuba _smiled_ and _laughed_! The world is ending!"

After getting his hair dyed in bright neon rainbow colors, his school uniform changed to that of a female student's and getting _that_ dyed pink and _then_ getting glued to the ceiling, Hakuba decided that it might be worth the other students' wrath to arrest Kaito then and there.

 **Thank you for reading! Have a nice day!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you for the reviews, favorites and follows! I'm glad that you guys liked this story!**

 **I'm updating now, but I don't know when I'll be able to update next. I have super important exams after school starts again, and, to be honest, I was already supposed to start studying for them, but... Anyways, since I'll really start studying for those, I won't have time to write stories and thus, won't be updating for quite a while. I'm still open for any scenarios you can think of, and I'll try to write them when I have the time, but it can take quite a while before I update. I just wanted to let you guys know that!**

 **Disclaimer: Still don't own Detective Conan or Magic Kaito.**

One Edogawa Conan sighed loudly, walking down the path leading closer to the entrance of the park. As usually, there had been a murder, and now that he had caught the culprit (a jealous wife), Ran had sent him to go on ahead of the rest, closer to the entrance, so that he wouldn't be in the way.

Like he'd be _in the way_. She treated him like a kid!

… Except, he was a kid. All things considered, she was actually doing a pretty good job on keeping an eye on him, wasn't she?

Not that any of that mattered. He found himself sighing again, wandering for a bit. There were a few officers here and there, keeping an eye on everything. They barely glanced at him, used to his presence. That was… kind of sad, actually.

The nearer he came to the entrance of the park, the better he could hear the cheers of little kids. Frowning, confused, he quickened his pace, jogging closer to see what was happening. He soon spotted a group of kids, gathering around something or some _one_.

Conan blinked, noticing the teenage girl standing not far from the spectacle. She looked awfully similar to Ran and was sighing, shaking her head fondly. She smiled as she looked at the group of kids, though, and the person who the kids were staring at.

He stopped when he came close enough, peering through the crowd of kids and at the teenage boy who looked awfully much like he did, as Shinichi. The boy was showing magic tricks to the kids, grinning widely as the kids gasped and cheered at the impromptu show he decided to keep. Conan had no doubts that he had heard of the murder and decided to keep the kids entertained and distracted, until their parents could pick them up. That was just so like him, honestly.

He knew both of the teens. He would recognize them out on the streets any day. As it was, there shouldn't have been any reason for him to recognize Nakamori Aoko so easily, but, well… they had a common objective, so to say.

The kids cheered once more. "You're really good!"

"Nii-san, are you professional?"

"Maybe he's Kaitou KID?"

Kuroba Kaito, upon hearing those words, spluttered a little. Conan raised an eyebrow, mentally wondering what went wrong with his poker face. Kaito's poker face _was_ good, after all. The only reason he saw through it was because he knew all about having a secret identity, thus, he knew what to look for, where the cracks would show. The only reason everyone else knew, well… It _was_ kind of obvious, from the way he acted at school, from what Hakuba had told him.

Then, Conan remembered the last few heists. The snipers had been getting far more active, and although no one had been able to confirm that KID had been hit, well… Maybe he had. Maybe he was far more hurt than he would ever let anyone realize.

Conan was Kudo Shinichi, a detective. His job was to throw criminals into prison. His job was _not_ to protect any criminal from being caught.

But, Kaito, KID, was not just a criminal, at this point. Thus, when the lingering officers took note of what the kids had said and started to get a little interested at the spluttering teenage magician, Conan spoke, he voice loud enough to be heard. "No way!"

Aoko, who had been very close to interfering, paused. She turned to look at Conan, just as everyone else did. Kaito, too, and Conan saw his eyes widen in just a tiny bit of horror.

"KID's tricks are a lot better than that", he added. "Besides, he isn't stupid enough to openly do any tricks. If no one knows he can do magic tricks, no one will be able to catch his civilian persona, after all, and KID is intelligent enough to realize that."

The kids stared at him. Kaito stared at him. One of the adults around them blinked. "Wait… aren't you Edogawa Conan, the KID Killer?"

Conan smiled as he looked up at her, nodding. "Yep!"

The kids beamed, looking at him adoringly. They started bombing him with questions about the master thief, the adults watching them with amusement and curiosity. The police officers lost their interest in Kaito, turning to Conan for a brief moment before shaking their heads and going back to their work.

The crowd of kids dispersed a little, as parents came to pick up their kids. Conan stayed there, answering some more questions, before the last of them disappeared. When he turned to look at the two teens (the other confused beyond belief and the other relieved beyond belief), he saw Aoko wink at him. Conan, in turn, gave the two of them a smirk, not the type he got when he figured out the trick, but similar to it.

Kaito looked a little confused, but there was no way he'd understand the meaning behind that smirk. Because, for ages now, since they had found out about his night persona, they had had a language of their own. Aoko's wink was a sign of gratefulness, that the danger was now over and that she'd take care of Kaito, so that everyone else could relax. Conan's smirk meant that he didn't mind helping out and that he was entrusting their oblivious genius thief in her care.

"Conan-kun!" he turned toward the voice, beaming and waving to Ran. "Ran-neechan!"

Kaito let out a yelp. He quickly turned to Aoko, herding her towards the exit. "Let's go, Aoko! That café has a discount for all their chocolate sweets and I _want_ them!"

Conan was mentally cackling, watching Ran come closer and listening Kaito and Aoko getting further away. He listened as Aoko giggled but moved away from the park and towards the café Kaito had mentioned. When Ran reached him, he revealed nothing of what had just happened.

He was a detective. It was not his job to help criminals. But KID wasn't just some criminal. KID was someone, who was important to a lot of people. Conan would never admit it, but KID, Kaito, was important to him, just as he was important to Hakuba, to Aoko, to everyone in Ekoda High School. He was so important to them all, that they'd do anything to protect him, to keep him in their lives, to help him keep his freedom, even, maybe, break a few laws while they were at it. It wasn't something Kaito had to know, but it was the _truth_. Conan was no different from all those other people, willing to go _so far_ for the master thief.

Because if he was KID's detective, then KID was _his thief_.

 **Thank you for reading! Have a nice day!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Oh. My. God.**

 **I sincerely apologize for leaving this story like this. However, if you remember, from the last chapter, I had super important tests just after school started in autumn. Those were actually two of my matriculation exams (I think that's the word in English?), and I had three more just recently. So, I've spent the last... 9 months (It's been that long?) studying for those and stressing about them. Again, I apologize, but those were really important exams and failing them just wasn't an option.**

 **I also lost interest in Detective Conan, for some time, so I haven't really had any motivation to write this story.**

 **But, hey, thanks to RiptideX23, for the idea for this chapter! I hope you all like it!**

 **(BTW, in case this is new information: When Japanese say "clover" in English, it sounds something like "kurobaa", i.e. it's really close to "Kuroba".)**

 **Disclaimer: I wouldn't have spent the last 9 months stressing over exams if I owned Detective Conan or Magic Kaito. Obviously I don't own either of them.**

It was like any other heist. Nakamori-keibu was shouting orders, the Task Force was scrambling to get everything done on time, high school detectives were standing in a corner, shaking their heads. The closer the heist came, the more frantic things became.

Then the heist itself began. Everything was as it should be. Everything was as it always was. Kaitou KID made a grand entrance, appearing above the display case in all his glory. With his usual smirk in place, he taunted the police, the detectives, everyone. With a snap of his fingers, he not only had the targeted jewel in his hand, but also the whole Task Force and detectives in various outfits. There were princesses, and dragons (Nakamori-keibu), and high school girls, and just about everything. There was shouting, and KID smirked, feeling so proud of himself.

And then, the complete normalcy of the heist was broken when Tantei-han opened his mouth. "Why, Kuroba…!"

Tantei-han was cut off as Tantei-san elbowed his stomach with so much force that the Osakan wheezed and doubled over. KID was sure he also saw Tantei-kun give his shin a nice kick, and he would have grinned and laughed and just generally thought the situation amusing, if not for the fact that he was absolutely sure that Tantei-han had just said his name.

His _civilian_ name.

Tantei-kun stepped forward, looking up at him with a curious expression. "I want to know, too!"

"… Want to know what, exactly?" KID asked, suddenly terrified. The boy, who was now wearing a bear jumpsuit, couldn't possibly know, right? It wasn't like Tantei-han, wearing a witch's costume, knew, either, right? If one knew, the other also knew, KID knew that, but it wasn't like they _knew_ , right? They couldn't!

But what if they did? How did they figure him out?

"Why a clover?"

KID blinked. A… clover…?

He knew he wasn't the only one staring at the child in utter bafflement. Nakamori-keibu and the Task Force were all too quiet to not be staring at him with the exact same look as he was. It was so quiet, in fact, that he could hear Tantei-san (who had a nice horse mask over his head, what a wonderful sight that was) angrily whisper something to Tantei-han. He couldn't hear what he was saying, though.

"A clover!" Tantei-kun pointed at his monocle. "Why do you have a clover on the dangling charm of your monocle?"

KID stared at him. "Uh… No particular reason… Why are you asking this?"

"I'm curious! Like Heiji-niichan!" Tantei-kun smiled brightly, like a child, like nothing at all was wrong.

"… Didn't Hattori say… Kuroba?"

KID turned towards Nakamori-keibu, quickly gathering whatever scraps were left of his poker face. No. He couldn't be caught. Not now, not like this. If it came down to it, he would…

"He thinks it's cool if he says 'clover' in English." Tantei-san's voice came slightly muffled from behind the horse mask. "It's not. But, point stands. He said 'clover', not Kuroba."

KID turned to look at the detectives, looking both confused and scared. Since when did Tantei-san talk like that? Wasn't he trying to get _any_ evidence of him being Kuroba Kaito? Why was he suddenly saying this? What was going on?

The detectives, though, looked convincing enough. Tantei-han looked sheepish and apologetic for causing any kind of misunderstanding. Tantei-kun was still beaming, like nothing was wrong. Tantei-san… was still wearing the horse mask.

KID blinked. He… wasn't going to take it off? He had left his hands free, so he should be able to take it off. He had assumed it would come off immediately, but…

Looking between the three detectives, and the Task Force, KID decided that even he didn't have what it took to deal with whatever craziness had infected them. The detectives, in particular.

Making his exit, he wondered. Maybe Akako had done something to his detectives, to scare him like this. Yes, that must be it. He'd have to talk to her later, about not involving innocent detectives like this. He liked his detectives to stay sane, thank you very much!

 **I hope you enjoyed! Have a nice day!**


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